I have been toying with MIUI (gingerbread) over the last few days, and I really like it. I have ADW running as the launcher (I used titianium to remove the stock launcher, too) and it seems very stable. The camera is great and allows for video recording in 720 p.
As for the best way to restore your apps, titanium backup (free) will do it. Before you wipe, go to the Backup/Restore tab. Hit the "menu" softkey, and you can do a batch backup (RUN Backup all user apps).
When you move over into your next ROM, install titanium again, and go to the bottom of the Backup/Restore area again. You can restore apps by tapping the program you want to restore. Hit the "Restore" button (after you enable installing apps from non market sources) and it'll ask you to install, exactly as it would from the market.